1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for using a memory and a device thereof, and more particularly, to a method for using a non-volatile memory and an electronics device thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The memories, which can be accessed by a system, are roughly categorized into volatile memories and non-volatile memories based on their characteristic. The volatile memories include Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), and the data stored in the volatile memory disappears once the system is turned off (when the electricity provided to the memory discontinues). The volatile memory has the advantage of fast read/write operation and is capable of rewriting without erasing its content first. On the other hand, the data stored in the non-volatile memory does not disappear when the system is turned off (when the electrical power provided to the memory discontinues), but the content needs to be erased before the data is rewritten into the non-volatile memory. Among various types of the non-volatile memory, the flash memory is one good example.
The flash memory is commonly used for storing the system firmware or even the system parameter. The flash memory is characterized by its lengthy erase time by one sector at a time. In general, a sector erase time in the flash memory is about 1 (typical value) to 8 (maximum value) seconds, and a byte programming time is about 35 (typical value) to 300 (maximum value) μs (micro seconds). It is common practice for the system to store a set of certain parameters data in a flash memory. Each time a user performs new operations on the system, the system will erase these data first and then rewrite the new data into the non-volatile memory. The operation of erasing the content and rewriting the data into the non-volatile memory for storing system configuration or other information, if frequent, can slow down the system due to the lengthy erase time. In addition, the erase/rewrite lifecycle of the general flash memory is about 100,000 times. Frequent erase/rewrite operation will shorten the lifecycle of the flash memory and degrade its reliability.